Waco, TX. Population, just north of 127-thousand. Located along the Brazos River halfway between Dallas and Austin. Probably not on the list of hot-spot vacation destinations but it is where I spent mine. Because that is where the company that is my new business partner is headquartered. And so goes the life of an entrepreneur.
Before I go further, let me say Waco was not what I expected, though it's a bit fuzzy what I did expect. The impression you get is of a place that is kind of out there, a spot where no one goes on purpose. Which would be incorrect. I went on purpose. It was a pleasant drive down I-35 from Dallas (because Southwest has not yet discovered Waco), the highway bracketed by the vast Texas countryside.
I know "everything's bigger" is a cliché but all clichés are grounded in some truth. Everything about the state is massive, from the space for access roads along most of the Interstate to the vast plains beyond it. Not many trees, though; at least not many tall ones, which the nature gods must have done on purpose. If there were tall trees, they would obscure the view and the mass of land would be minimized, at least from the point of view of a driver. The sense of bigness would be missing.
In the city itself, far more water than I anticipated. My daily route from the hotel to the training site took me along expansive Lake Waco and the usual homes ones sees along a lakefront. Someone has made a lot of money there, which brings me to the central point of the trip.
I had a week's worth of training on the products that will make up my business, and a week's worth of interaction with a half-dozen or so other souls like me. A couple were also new to entrepreneurship, a couple were branching into a new area, and one couple was planning for the next phase of life. Good people. You get to know a bit about folks when you spend eight hours a day or so with them. I hope the result is some new friendships or some resources to bounce ideas with, maybe both.
The key lesson that was stressed was an echo of what the guy who recruited me emphasized - set aside your genius for six months. A company with hundreds of millions of dollars in sales say do that and a smart guy heeds the advice. I figure people with that sort of track record have probably learned something, that the ideas they're sharing are the result of trial and error, and the value behind the ideas have been confirmed through practical application. Something about reinventing wheels and things not being broken comes to mind. Besides, genius is hard work.
In a word, the week was exhilarating. With each passing day, the sense of "I can do this" became more pronounced. As I was driving back to Dallas to catch the return flight, it had moved to "of course, I can do this; how could I fail?" Any entrepreneur knows that failure is a possibility; it's a risk you take in doing anything, though the risk is a bit larger when you don't have regular paychecks on the 1st and 15th on which to rely. But there is no reward without risk and not much fun without it, either.
The remaining ducks are lining up, though Bernice is a little stubborn. Probably her genius not wanting to be set aside which, when you think about it, is a bit odd for an animal that relies on the flock. A rebel duck, probably the side of my personality that gets a bit restless and wonders "what if I tried this" on occasion. For now, though, the company's system makes total sense and it is my system to execute. Which will begin in a few weeks. Which has me very excited. And a bit terrified, too. Just not as terrified as not taking the plunge.
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